The Proper Use of Exams

I did a revision lecture today for the First Year. The exam is next week. Afterwards I got an email that I found both amusing and a bit irritating. The sender wanted to know what would be coming up in the exam this year “so that I won’t have to waste my time revising the other stuff”.

Oh well.

I think that person could use a slightly better perspective on why we are all here. I’m not teaching this stuff so you can get through the exams. I’m actually doing it because I want to pass on things which I think you should know if you want to do Computer Science. Another thing I find amusing/irritating (but also rather pleasing) is when we have students come back to Hull after they have graduated and say things like “You know, that stuff you taught is actually quite useful.”

Well, duh.

I use exams as a rather blunt instrument to make sure that folks learn the stuff that is really important about the subject. There is no secret about some of the topics that will be on the paper, since those things are there every year, and all you have to do is learn them. And by learning them I mean not being able to repeat the words, but actually achieve something using what you know. In fact, the way I see it, learning by applying the knowledge is actually much easier than just trying to bash in sequences of words that you can then trot out if you recognise the context of the question.

You could learn that “An interface is a set of methods that a class must implement in order that it is possible to create an instance of that class”. Or you could learn that you use an interface when you want to treat invoices, receipts, customers and any other objects in your solution as things that can be printed. The printing process only want to manipulate objects in terms of their ability to be printed, so you use an interface to describe the methods that give this ability and then make each object implement it.

Bank Holiday in Good Weather Shock

A British Bank Holiday and great weather. Shurely shome mishtake?

But no. We went out to Dalby Forest, which was the busiest I’ve ever seen it. Mind you, the place being the size it is, there was plenty of room to spread out and have our picnic.

I even found a log with a built in cup holder.

Injustice: Gods Among Us

Thanks, but I’ve been around long enough to know those…..

Number one daughter recommended “Injustice: Gods Among Us” as a good game. She reckons it is a good way to find out who would win in a fight between Superman and Batman. Since you can actually do that.

Yesterday I got hold of a copy. And she is right. Great game. I was expecting a good beat’em’up, but actually it is much better than that. There is also an engaging story mode that tells of Superman gone bad and even though it uses a Parallel Universe as a narrative device (quite the story telling mot du jour at the moment – hello Star Trek and Dr. Who), this does mean that you can have more interesting fights.

I got the game for the Wii U, figuring that the platform could do with some love at the moment. It works very well, with the Wii U controller either duplicating the video screen or showing you the player moves. I really like using the Wii U to play games. It now feels very natural to have a screen in your hands as well as in front of you. In fact, with Wii U consoles now available for around 150 quid I reckon they are a bit of bargain at the moment. Hopefully Sony will do something with the PS Vita and Microsoft with Glass to make the experience available on their platforms.

Anyhoo, we spent a happy afternoon working through various superhero permutations. Recommended.

Hull Collectors Fair

Last autumn they had a Movie Buffs fair in Hull and I went along and bought a few bits and bobs.Today there was another one and so we went along and took some pictures.

Predator Jazz Hands

Now, that’s a toy collection

“Good time we had, yes”.

What I bought, currently above the fireplace. Number one wife says it is “growing on her”, which is good enough for me. Anyone know the identity of the green guy with the red eyes and the figure to his left?

Blossom

We seem to be having some slightly nicer weather at the moment. So much so that the blossom has arrived. Which is nice.